"I understand, Dad." Clark answered with complete sincerity. Even if he had to step in, he usually stopped to think first. He was not the type to rush in blindly on impulse.
And for a father, this kind of thing really was dangerous.
"Jameson's planning to put the black-market tech pipeline on the front page next week," Ben said as he finished eating, gathered up the papers on the table, and got ready to head to work. "He wants to pressure the NYPD into setting up a dedicated anti-high-tech crime unit."
"You two behave at school, and come straight home afterward," Ben added. Then he looked especially hard at Peter. "And you, Peter, be extra careful out there."
Ben worried more about Peter, who looked even scrawnier.
"Got it, Uncle Ben." Peter nodded obediently.
But some things could not be avoided just because you wanted to stay away from them.
Morning classes passed quickly, and before long Midtown High was noisy again.
Peter stood at his locker, sorting out the books he would need for the afternoon while absentmindedly thinking about the internal structure of the gauntlet, along with everything Ben had said that morning.
Mary Jane spotted him from the far end of the hall and hurried over. There were dark circles under her eyes. Clearly, she had not slept well.
"Peter..."
Mary Jane appeared behind him.
Peter jumped, spun around, and the second he saw her, his expression tightened with nerves. He immediately shut the locker door.
"Oh... Mary Jane. Are you okay today? Clark told me about what happened last night. I'm really sorry. I should've insisted on walking you home."
Seeing Peter worry about her like this, all awkward and anxious, sent a warm feeling through Mary Jane. She did not blame him at all. If anything, the fact that he cared this much made her happy.
"I'm fine," Mary Jane said with a smile, reaching out to straighten his shirt. "Clark helped a lot."
Not far away, Clark leaned against the wall with both hands in his pockets, looking deceptively cool.
Watching the scene, the corners of his mouth lifted. As Peter's big brother, he had done everything he could.
The rest was up to Peter, that blockheaded little idiot, and whether he would ever finally wake up.
A proper older-woman-younger-man romance was just sitting there waiting to happen.
As it happened, Harry Osborn appeared out of nowhere again, strolling over casually with a can of soda in hand.
As he passed Peter, he noticed a sketch Peter was holding.
Harry looked a little surprised and stopped walking.
"Hey, Peter." Harry pointed at the drawing. "That thing you drew... it looks kind of familiar. Is it some kind of kinetic launch device?"
Peter was startled and quickly slipped the sketch behind his back, stumbling over his words a little. He had not expected anyone to recognize what it was.
"Uh... yeah. I... I saw something like it in a science magazine and thought it looked interesting, so I copied it down."
Harry nodded as if that made perfect sense. He did not press further. Instead, he smiled with a trace of pride.
"You drew it pretty accurately. Actually, it was developed by one of Oscorp's subsidiaries. Last year it was part of a deep-sea mining research project, but later it got shelved because of funding issues. I heard some of the discarded prototypes were sold off in bulk."
Hearing the Osborn heir say that himself made it obvious Uncle Ben's information had been dead on.
The leak was somewhere inside the system.
Or maybe there was no leak at all.
Harry noticed the curiosity blazing in Peter's eyes and seemed to get an idea.
"Peter, are you interested in high-tech machinery and genetic bioengineering?" Harry leaned against the lockers and extended the invitation. "My father is always complaining that kids these days only care about video games and have no interest in real science. He'd absolutely appreciate an actual genius instead of the usual mediocrities."
Harry looked at Peter, then turned to Clark and Mary Jane beside him. "This weekend, there's an internal exhibition at Osborn Tower's labs on cross-species genetics and neuro-mechanics. I've got a few VIP passes, enough to get into parts of the building that aren't normally open. You want to take a look at some cutting-edge tech?"
Peter's eyes lit up instantly. For a science-obsessed teenager like him, getting to tour the labs of one of the world's top technology companies was about as exciting as telling an ordinary kid they were going to Disneyland.
"Really? That would be amazing!" Peter looked so excited he practically wanted to jump up and cheer.
Clark looked at Harry, and a thought suddenly occurred to him. The little devil in his head was already roaring.
He's going to dissect us! Run! These people are not safe!
But Clark did not stop Harry. He did not refuse either, because fate was a slippery thing.
It was not something he could change just because he wanted to.
All he could do was stay by Peter's side and make sure he stayed safe.
"That sounds like a pretty good weekend plan," Clark said with a smile. "Count me in."
Harry seemed genuinely pleased. He liked Clark, this big easygoing guy.
Clark was the first real person he had met at Midtown High.
Mary Jane leaned closer to Peter. "I'm going too. I want to see it for myself."
"No problem. We're friends." Harry nodded, then pulled out the passes and handed them straight to Peter.
That was his way of letting Peter decide for himself, while also quietly expanding his circle a little. He wanted to make some new friends.
After that, Harry headed off for lunch.
Of course, even when he picked a place to sit, he still ended up sitting near Clark and the others.
"I'll head to the table first," he said. "See you there."
Everyone nodded. They were all going to meet up again in a second anyway.
Clark followed soon after. As for who Peter wanted to invite or not invite, Clark left that entirely up to him. He did not like making choices for other people.
But his mind was on something else.
The people behind those high-tech weapons.
He was genuinely worried that once the Daily Bugle published all this, the backlash would come fast.
It would not just be Jameson who got targeted.
As managing editor, Ben would be second in line.
Clark needed to keep watch on Ben at all times, and on the whole family too.
No one could predict what criminals might do when cornered and furious.
But exposing that kind of truth was exactly the job of the Bugle and the reporters who worked there. Even with pressure and danger in their way, they would still do it.
Thinking about that, Clark ate lunch with a knot of worry in his stomach.
But that was not his only problem.
Felicia, that woman, had started openly harassing him again, sitting beside him at lunch and flirting with him so much that Gwen was nearly baring her teeth.
She clearly wanted Felicia gone from their table.
Of course, Clark was not the only one with a headache.
Peter had one too.
He was thinking about who to give the passes to.
He looked around the table. Mary Jane. Clark. Eddie. Gwen. Himself.
After a moment's thought, he mentally added Cindy too.
Then he looked at Felicia, who was currently teasing his brother again, and started wondering whether he should bring her as well.
Peter had his own little mean streak sometimes.
He wanted to see Clark squirm.
So he spoke up directly.
"Felicia, we're going to check out a tech exhibition this weekend. Want to come with us?"
Felicia turned to look at him, clearly puzzled.
Then Peter added one more line:
"My brother's going too."
The moment she heard that, it was not just Felicia who became interested.
Clark and Gwen both shot Peter looks so murderous they practically wanted to kill the little traitor on the spot.